Efficient adsorption and antibacterial properties of electrospun CuO-ZnO composite nanofibers for water remediation

Highlights: • Synthesis of CuO-ZnO composite nanofibers using simple electrospinning technique. • Characterization data confirmed the proper structure. • Exploited as effective adsorbent for congo red dye. • Several adsorption kinetic and isotherm models were discussed. • Evaluation of antibacterial activity against GFP-E.coli and S. aureus. - Abstract: On the face of impending global water resources, developing low-cost and efficient water treatment technologies and materials thereof is highly important. Herein, we explore the adsorption capacity and antibacterial properties of CuO-ZnO (CZ) composite nanofibers. The ultrafine nanofibers were fabricated using simple and inexpensive electrospinning technique and were further characterized using Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). When employed as nanoadsorbents, CZ nanofibers exhibited excellent adsorption capacity for congo red dye. Adsorption Isotherms and kinetics were performed to determine the maximum adsorption capacity and the rate of adsorption, respectively, depicting the better efficiency of composite nanofibers as compared to their single counterparts. The mechanism of adsorption is also proposed with the evaluation of diffusion studies. The second part of this study deals with the examination of antibacterial activity of CZ composite nanofibers against antibiotic resistant GFP-E.coli and S. aureus. The antibacterial efficacy was monitored by visual turbidity assay, SEM analysis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) determination. Hence, such nanofibers have been explored as a single platform for the removal of biological as well organic contaminants so as to make them potential in the field of water remediation.